Looking at the past few week of Google news, you'll be forgiven for thinking Google doesn't do anything else beyond making Android. While there's sexier stuff going on within Google, the company is also still trying to improve its core user service: search. They've launched encrypted search today, and it will be rolled out across the world in the coming days.

I get the feeling it's more about good PR. The chinese governemnt, like most, ask for top level SSL certs which would allow them to sniff your SSL connection. If your selling encryption to chineses buyers, you'll need to hand over decryption keys; again, not different from other governments. Based on the theory that PRC can already open Google's SSL traffic, I see it giving them more ROI from good PR. With several slippups in the last few months, I'm thinking it's more about company image.

Still, it's another encrypted protocol where a cleartext should have been replaced long ago so I'm not complaining; another domain goes into my auto-https plugin.